Thanks for your patience! It took me a while to finish the chapter, so I made this one longer to make up for it. Thanks to everyone who has read and followed this story lately. Any feedback is appreciated :)

The looming military award ceremony was an unbearable weight on Shepard's shoulders. She was never one for big self-congratulatory publicity events. She knew that the admiral and the Alliance wanted to give the people a sense of victory and comfort at the moment, but it just wasn't her cup of tea. She would have to give a speech and answer questions from the press. It was her nightmare.

In anticipation of her big night, Shepard was pushing herself to the limit during physical therapy. She hoped that she could regain some sensitivity or muscle movement in her legs. If not, she at least wanted to keep working them out so that they did not lose muscle mass and wither away. Shepard wanted to have her strong soldier legs when and if there was a time when she could walk again. She also didn't want others to look at her legs and pity her. No, she couldn't have that.

It was during a particularly challenging session with her physical therapist when Jack walked in. She had been fairly busy with her students, but she had made time to come see Shepard now and then.

"Shepard, you any less of a gimp yet?"

Shepard glared at Jack.

"Jack, what do you want?

"What, can't stop by to see an old friend now and then?"

"Now's not a good time."

"Haven't you already pushed yourself to the brink for today? I've never seen you push yourself this hard physically."

"So?"

"So just stop moving for a damn second and talk with me."

Jack was insistent, so Shepard stopped her exercise and sighed. "Okay."

The therapist got up and left, leaving just the two of them in the room. Jack was quiet for a while before she finally spoke up.

"So… Miranda and I are worried about you."

"Wait? What? Miranda and you are on the same page about something? That's fairly remarkable. However, your concern is unwarranted."

"Umm, I don't think so. You're working yourself into the ground. You did it before the Reapers, and you're still doing it to yourself. You know the rooms have video feeds. The doctors know you're not sleeping. You keep working out even after the trainers have told you not to."

"I'm doing what's necessary, which is what I've always done. You're right. I beat the Reapers. And I'm going to beat this."

"Goddamn it, Shepard, this isn't a fucking war against some space monsters. Your spine is all fucked up and you almost died. But Miranda thinks she can fix it. So just calm down and wait like a good girl or you'll be dead before she can do anything about it."

Shepard gave Jack another stern glare. She was getting pretty good at them. In fact, she was glaring more than Jack was these days.

"I'm touched that Miranda and you feel this way." Shepard's facial expression grew softer.

"Aww, hugs and kisses," Jack retorted sarcastically.

"You know what I don't get? Why were you were nominated to come and give me the loving lecture?"

Jack snorted. "Say what you want about me, but Miranda is like an AI. She'd probably just piss you off more by being a cold sociopath. As opposed to me, the fuzzy, angry sociopath."

Shepard had to laugh at that one. A moment passed, and Jack could see Shepard become distant.

"What's up, Shepard? You going indoctrinated on me?

"No, no. It's just… I need to keep doing this. I really don't want to go to that ceremony, especially like this. And… it helps me to not think."

"What's there to think about? The Reapers are gone, yippee-fucking-ki-yay. And Earth will be rebuilt. Yeah, a lot of people died. It sucks. But we're not extinct. And those relays might be down, so some of those aliens are going to have to get real comfy on our planet, but whatever. It's not the end of the world."

"Yeah… I guess."

"And the Normandy is going to come back fine. I'm getting sick of saying it, so stop moping and making me repeat it." Jack pulled out a cigarette from her loose-fitting Alliance uniform and lit it, taking a long drag.

"Sorry for annoying you, Jack," Shepard joked.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about it. You're just worried that Prince Charming isn't going to ride in on his white horse."

Shepard was startled. Did everyone think she was just worried about Kaidan, and not the rest of the crew? That certainly wasn't true. She cared deeply about Kaidan, but the Normandy was her home, her life. The crew felt like a part of her. They were her family over the past three years. Secondly, did everyone know about Kaidan and her breaking the regs?

"Jack, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh shut it, Shepard. Everyone who has been on the Normandy knows you and pretty boy are a thing. You're worried about him. Whatever. Makes you weak, but I'm not going to hate you for it."

"Wow, thanks," Shepard replied sarcastically.

"I see you're trying out sarcasm for a change. Be careful. Don't go over to the dark side. The world would hate to see their almighty savior turn into a jaded psychopath."

"Uh huh." Shepard sensed it was time to say goodbye. She tried to plan an exit strategy. She was on a floormat and needed to get up into her chair. When Jack had been over before, Shepard had either been in her chair or the bed. Jack had never seen her in this state, and Shepard didn't feel like showing her.

"Need help getting up there?" Jack was looking straight at her.

"I… I… no." Shepard hesitated before dragging herself to her wheelchair. She tried to pull herself up on it, but it started to tilt a little. Shepard winced with pain as she felt her still healing injuries begin to make themselves known.

"Quit trying to be a damn hero." Before Shepard could react, Jack scooped her up in her scrawny arms and sat her upright in the chair. "Alright, princess?"

"Yes, sir." Shepard gave a small smile.

"And you're going to be great at that shitty ceremony. Just don't let all of that stuff get to your head. You might be humble now, but who knows how inflated that big head of yours can get."

"Thanks. I think."

"Anytime." And with that Jack gave her a half-assed salute and backed into the hallway, leaving Shepard there with her thoughts.

Rannoch was luckily not too long of a trip, and the Normandy had managed to make it there safely. It was a bit of a ghost town because the quarian fleets and many of the geth had come to their aid on Earth. All that was left on Rannoch were a few recently established settlements.

The Normandy landed next to one of these colonies near where Legion had died and they had fought the Reaper. The place where Shepard had managed to add another Reaper down to her list of accomplishments. Kaidan had been scared about her facing the Reaper alone, but Shepard managed to target and kill it. He should've learned to stop worrying and doubting her. Shepard's abilities in the field were remarkable.

The area looked like it had been cleaned up. Tents billowed in the wind next to some newly built housing structures. Kaidan felt like he was in unfamiliar territory. Shepard had always been the ambassador, the figurehead of diplomacy and outreach. Kaidan let Tali take the lead this time, and she went to go speak to her people. He decided to go rest in one of the tents the quarians had given the crew. A migraine was coming on, and he wanted to take refuge in a quiet, dark place.

Kaidan was startled to find Tali standing over him a couple of hours later. Had he fallen asleep? He thought he should be thankful for that. Sleep was hard to come by these days, but he was feeling more at ease lately. Knowing that the Normandy was running and at least some alien civilizations were around kept him sane.

"Tali. What's up?" Kaidan asked, rubbing his eyes.

"A migraine?" Tali deflected, concerned about Kaidan.

"Don't worry about it. Just the usual. Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"There was no need. And you required some rest."

"Huh… well, maybe you're right about that. So, what's the word?"

"First, the good news. It appears the Reapers are unofficially gone," Tali said excitedly.

"Unofficially?"

"Yes, for now. We can't say for certain, but there have been no active sightings on Rannoch. In fact, the Reapers that were here just stopped functioning about the time we were in London."

"I guess Shepard did it. Wow," Kaidan said, breaking into a smile.

"Yes, she did."

Tali gave Kaidan a quick hug.

"Anything more?" Kaidan asked.

"Unfortunately, there are some problems. For example, all of the geth shutdown around the time the Reapers did. No AIs are working, and the relays also stopped functioning. It's almost as if some type of EMP just knocked out everything synthetic. Most computers and other technology are running, with some exceptions. No extranet."

This was too much information for Kaidan to process. He felt his migraine start to come back, so he began rubbing his temples. No more geth? That was sad. They had just begun to work with the quarians, and they were helping improve their lives. After years of hating the geth and fighting them, Kaidan had begun to appreciate them after seeing Shepard work with Legion. Now they were gone.

No more mass relays? That was a huge problem. They were the foundation of modern travel. Without them, it could weeks, months, even years to make it to other parts of the universe. Mass relays were also how the systems were able to communicate. Without them, there was no extranet. They'd have to communicate the old fashioned way: word-of-mouth. Or send drones back and forth. They were officially living in the dark ages of space. How the hell were they going to get home now?

"Do the quarians think they can fix it? Do they know how it happened?"

"They speculate that whatever destroyed the Reapers targeted anything synthetic in the universe. As for fixing it, they have started examining the relay, but they don't really know how to repair it."

"Great."

"Don't be too disappointed, Kaidan. They have agreed to give us any supplies and fuel we might need. And I spoke to a navigator here who speculated that you could make it back to Earth in six months or less."

Kaidan was at least glad to hear that they could make the journey back home. Six months would be agonizing, but it would be worth it.

"That's good. So as soon as we are fueled up and the supplies are loaded, we'll head out," Kaidan said eagerly. The sooner they left, the sooner he could see Shepard again.

"I will let them know that you wish to leave quickly. However, I will not be going with you," Tali said, looking down at her feet.

"What do you mean? You're staying here?"

"I have always wanted to see my homeworld. I was lucky enough to see it before, and I made it my goal to return and set up roots here. Peace has been established. Now it's my time to enjoy that. I'd like to build a home here. There's so much work to be done."

"So you're just going to leave the crew? What about Shepard?"

"I'm not abandoning the crew. The rest of you want to go to Earth because it is your home. It is not mine. This is where I want to live my life. Everyone deserves the chance to go wherever and rebuild now. And I'm not abandoning Shepard! We don't even know if she lived or died. I will forever be grateful to her, and it hurts to stay and not see her, but I know I am making the right choice."

The initial anger that Kaidan felt began to subside. Shepard would want Tali to stay on Rannoch. They had talked about her building a home there. Tali had done more than enough for the galaxy. She deserved this.

"I'm sorry to see you going, Tali. But I do know Shepard would approve of your decision."

"Thank you, Kaidan. It means a lot. There is one more thing…"

"Yes?"

"I believe Garrus wants to stay here as well."

This was not an unexpected turn of events. Garrus and Tali had grown quite close.

"Well, you guys have my blessing," Kaidan smiled. He bet Shepard would be happy about the turn of events.

"I know he desperately wants to see Shepard and know… everything. But I don't think he…,"

"It's okay, Tali. Really."

"Thank you!" Tali gave Kaidan a long hug. Garrus walked into the tent.

"I heard a quarian cheering. What's going on?," Garrus playfully asked.

"It's official. I just told Kaidan that we're staying here." Tali replied.

"That's great. I hope you're fine with this. I really want to go back to Earth, but I know the journey will be long, and there's so much work to still be done around the galaxy." Garrus said.

"Don't worry about it. I get it." Kaidan patted Garrus on the shoulder.

"We'll be thinking of Shepard every day. Maybe after we establish a little home for ourselves here, I can go check out home on Palaven, and then we can make our way to Earth."

"You do that, Garrus. Everyone would be glad to see ya."

Garrus and Tali embrace, and Kaidan has to look away. He wished he could hold Shepard like that right now. He also desired that chance to build a home together. With Garrus and Tali being left behind, he began to feel like everyone was moving on and drifting away except for him.